The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-01-27
A TERRIBLE NIGHT IN an IN
DIAN JUNGLE.
from The London Chronicle. I

and rested at village called Halarad
On leaving this place, and while lying
In camp about thirty miles distant,
a fine opportunity was given me to
observe, from a single standpoint, the
characteristics of the rhinoceros, the
tiger and a snake of the boa construct
or species We had our camp in a
village which was half deserted on
account of the proximity of bad rhi-
noceros and two or three man eating
tigers. A bad rhinoceros, it may be
explained, is the same thing as a bad
elephant 1t is one that has lost in a
fair fight his leadership and is driven
away in disgrace. The rhinoceros
isn't social, like the elephant, and sell
dom more than two are found together.
Once in a while some old chap gets
so ugly that there is no living with
him, and he is deserted until the spell
passes off. While bad, he will fight
anything that walks, flies or swims.
and in his blind fury he will charge a
thicket as soon as moving object.
About mile from the village, and
reached by path through the forest,
was pool, at which many Wild ami
mails came to slack their thirst We
went over one morning and built a
platform for one of us to stand on In
the branches Of convenient tree, and
then hunted about until we found
places for my two companions on
paths which were beaten hard under
the feet Of thousands of animals 1t
was in the dry season and the pond
was low Therefore it might be ex-
pected that the pool would be sought
out by the animals from a great dis
lance. Nothing of account came to it
in the daytime, as experience had
taught us. 1t is only after shutdown
that elephants, rhinoceroses, lions,
tigers. panthers and such beasts APP
proach a pool to drink, especially in a
hidden place No doubt some Of
them may go two Or three days with
out water, but a hunter who takes his
stand at pool is always certain Of
big game of some sort.
We set out for our stands about an
hour before shutdown, each of us having
d native attendant to remain through
the night. Just before we reached
the pool, and while my man was tTot-
ting along a few feet ahead of me, d
jaguar leaped down upon him from a
limb with loud scream. The beast
rather over shot his mark, but clawed
the mans shoulder severely The ma
tive uttered shouts of terror, and ]
fired shot which missed the beast.
and he licked his chops at me in a
savage manner and bounded away
The man could not go on with me-
He was severely hurt and in great
pain: and [ told him to run back to
the village for treatment and send out
another man. He was off at once, and
[ kept the path until reaching the
pool, and then lost no time in ascend
ing to the scaffold I had a heavy
rifle and plenty of cartridges, and in
my belt the hunting knife usually
carried. 1t was only when ready to
ascend the platform that | discovered
the absence of my pair of Colts, and
with their powder and bullets. Those
things had been intrusted to my ser
want, and he had been in such hurry
to return to the village that he had
carried them off with him. Just then
however, the loss of the pistols did
not seem of much account to me. /
climbed the platform, pulled my gun
up after me, and pretty soon began to
listen for the halloo of the man who
would be sent to stay with me- | had
reason to expect him before shutdown.
for the distance was not great and the
natives move rapidly on an Grand
But the red orb disappeared, and the
shadows of evening fell and | heard
nothing of him. [ knew then that he
would not come at all, as it would be
rlsking his life to enter the jungle af-
ter shutdown.
The pool was near the center of a
cleared space about half an acre in ex-
tent, and the ground was uneven. As
there was no such thing as a creek or
| rivulet In the neighbOrhoOd. the pool
must have been formed from a spring
which dubbed up among the rocks
Darkness had scarcely come when the
moon came up to make the cleared
space almost as light as day. and about
the same time the wild beasts began
to move about. | could hear them
snarling and growing on all sides and
located jaguar in a tree not very far
from mine, by his constant snarling at
something in the jungle. [ moved
about to get a better look, and sud
denly lost my grasp on the gun, and
had the modification Of hearing it
strike the ground below with a heavy
crash. My idea was to get it again as
soon as possible, and l had descended
| at least half way when there was a
snarl from the roots of the tree which
| brought my hair on end. / recogniz-
ed the presence of tiger, who might
have been waiting there for five min
utes for all [ knew. As I hurried
back to my perch, l heard his sharp
claws tearing at the bark, and [ was
truly thankful for the knowledge that
he could not climb As [ reached my
perch L drew my knife as the only
weapon left me, and the tiger, feeling
that [ had escaped him for the mo-
ment, walked out in the bright moon
light with deliberate step, looked up
at me with a low growl, and then
stood at the edge of the pool and lap
ped the water He was engaged at
this when I heard loud ''woofn' from
the jungle, and the next instant a rhi-
noceros broke cover and came chare-
ing at the tiger with arush that would
have knocked down a stone wall. His
movement proved that he was a bad
rhinoceros. and it was probably this
fellow who had annoyed and excited
the jaguar
The tiger had warning enough as
the big beast came across the open.
and he stood in his tracks until I
thought he would be run down be
fore he moved a foot. Then he LIGHT
ly sprang aside, and the rhinoceros
crashed into the pool, out on the other
side, and came numbering back with
Scarcely a halt in his oait Tho +;c-o,.